A million on strike as France feels pinch

More than one million French workers downed tools yesterday in the first general strike to hit a major industrialised nation since the start of the global financial crisis.

Unions said more than two million public and private sector workers took to the streets across France to protest against President Nicolas Sarkozy's handling of the economic crisis, saying too much had been done to bail out fat cats and banks, and not enough to protect jobs and help workers make ends meet.

Air traffic controllers, train drivers, teachers, nurses, and tax inspectors were joined by private sector workers including bank clerks and staff from the firm that runs the Paris stock exchange. Some schools were shut, flights were cancelled, and the Palace of Versailles cwas losed in a rare show of unity between unions, although "Black Thursday" did not bring total transport paralysis.

After dark, as crowds dispersed from the Paris protest, more than 100 people clashed with police at Place de l'Opéra, throwing bottles, overturning cars, and starting fires in the street. Thirteen people were arrested.

"This is a broad anti-Sarkozy protest to say, crisis or no crisis, we don't like the way society is going," said a university lecturer at the start of the march.

France has not experienced the kind of banking meltdown seen in Britain, Ireland or Spain. But it has seen a marked rise in unemployment - the root of unrest in recent years. France is entering its first recession in 16 years and jobless figures are rising at the fastest rate in more than 10 years. Unemployment is predicted to top 10% next year, and the young are being hit hardest.

Sarkozy unveiled a €26bn (£23bn) package at the end of last year to encourage investment and protect major industries during the crisis. But union leaders said yesterday that he should follow Britain's example and offer help for consumers.

"The president is taking workers for idiots," said Guy Rouget, a member of the powerful CGT union, marching with Renault workers.

"People have had enough, they can't keep going any longer on low pay with daily fear of losing their jobs."

The strike was a big test for Sarkozy's self-styled image as the only man brave enough to face down street protests and reform France. For the first 18 months of his presidency, he dismissed strikes and pushed through state pension reforms and the dismantling of the country's 35-hour week.

But amid a mood of social unease at the global downturn, the president has shown signs of faltering. Last month, fearful that Greek youth riots could spread to France, he shelved a contested high-school reform plan after teenage pupils staged street protests. "France is a difficult country to govern," he admitted to journalists this month. This week he was careful to avoid commentary that would inflame tensions and anger unions.

"I see this as a general protest against Sarkozy's reforms. He is breaking the public service," said Habib Mouaci, a university student on the Paris march. About 70% of the French public approved the strike but the education minister, Xavier Darcos, told French TV: "The government will not stop reforming a country that needs it."